A wide variety of absorbent catamenial tampons have long been known in the art. While it has been found these tampons perform their intended function tolerably well, even the best of tampons do not always provide good coverage against leakage and possess a post-use appearance that has a negative impact on the consumer. Until recently it was not appreciated that post-use appearance of a tampon was an important factor affecting the consumer's total use experience and that consumers prefer tampons that maintain a clean post-use appearance. The design of overwraps or exterior surfaces of a tampon affects a tampon's comfort, as well as, the tampon's post-use appearance. Overwraps designed mainly with the comfort of the user in mind, reduce the adhesion to vaginal tissue by including hydrophobic materials and/or treatments in the design. It was found that the same hydrophobic materials that reduce adhesion and increase comfort might also be more pleasing to the user's perception of the tampon, post-use. These hydrophobic overwraps do not retain fluid and thus, yield a tampon with a clean post-use appearance.
While hydrophobic overwraps assist with the post-use appearance, they do not retain fluid, do not assist in the absorbing bypass fluid, or prevent bypass failure. Bypass failure occurs when the menses travels along the length of the vagina without contacting the tampon. During a tampon change, some residual menses may be left near the introitus of the vagina. This may be fluid which was previously absorbed, but which subsequently “squeezed out” of the tampon as it was withdrawn through the sphincter of the vagina. A replacement tampon may not effectively absorb the residual fluid, particularly if located near the introitus, i.e., in the lower vaginal cavity. Thus, in order to provide a solution a mechanism must be provided to absorb bypassed fluid from the lower vaginal cavity. One mechanism is to incorporate a wicking region or a wicking overwrap into the tampon of the present invention that covers at least a portion of the exterior surface of the absorbent member and extends beyond the withdrawal end to form a skirt portion.
Accordingly, it would be beneficial to have a tampon that, in addition to providing an improved appearance, can also provide a mechanism to absorb bypassed fluid from the lower vaginal cavity thereby increasing leakage protection.